Stewart Island: Myths and the Truth?

It may look like a kiwi - but it isn't. Read on.
If you want to go to the southernmost town in Australasia then you should head for Oban on Stewart Island which lies below New Zealand's South Island. It is 47 degrees south and Stewart Island, a pristine place with a population of 390, is a little piece of untouched paradise far removed from city life and modern living. But what is Stewart Island really like?

The problem with any description of Stewart Island is that, invariably, the information is offered by people who know absolutely nothing about the place. Talk about a land of myths and misconceptions. It seems every New Zealander has an idea of Stewart Island and they are happy to persuade you that they know what they are talking about.
Here are some of the myths.
(1) It is always cold and grey. Well, at the moment it is cold and grey, but not terribly so. The weather is bracing and the skies are metallic. The daytime temperature is about 9 degrees in early May and, I am confidently informed by the locals, June and July are cold but the days are mostly clear and sunny. Anyway, a little coolness means open fires and lots of warm clothes. You are, after all, at the 47 th parallel.
(2) Whatever you do you must have some seafood chowder and blue cod. This is not a myth. It is a necessity. The Stewart Island seafood chowder includes some of the finest mussels in the world and the blue cod is so fresh you will be eating it within hours of it being delivered to the restaurant from the boat. I can personally recommend Church Hill Cafe Bar where the addition of aioli to the mix gives it a wonderful edge and their Stewart Island Blue Cod, "pan baked in an oven" is a reminder of how good genuinely fresh fish really is. Oh, and the myth isn't quite correct. To the chowder and cod list should be added the excellent salmon which is caught around the island. Let's just say that Stewart Island is a very special seafood experience.
(3) There are lots of kiwis on the island. This is rubbish. It suggests that spotting kiwis is an easy activity. Phillip Smith who runs night tours to Ocean Beach reckons there are about twelve kiwis in an area so large it takes him two hours to walk its pathways. That is not "lots" in my book. The night I went with him we saw two kiwis. In other words we saw 16% of the total population. The same goes for the pristine island of Ulva. It is said by enthusiastic locals that there are hundreds of kiwis on the island but one notice board estimates that there are actually about 20-30. Of course if you ask the locals on Stewart Island they will tell you that there are 20,000-30,000 on the island - but they keep themselves well hidden and certainly don't walk down the main street.
(4) It is always better to fly than to travel to the island by boat. This advice is usually offered as "Going to Stewart Island, eh? How are you travelling? By plane. Ah! Very sensible. Not a clever thing to go by boat." The reason is that the Foveaux Strait between Invercargill and the island is narrow, the winds are predominantly from the west - the Roaring Forties - and it is known that when the sea is a bit rough the crossing can be, how shall we put this, memorable. The plane, by comparison, takes about 15 minutes, offers great views and costs a little around $150. So, yes, the plane probably is the sensible option.

Now we've got that out of the way, let's look positively at the island.
I love the idea of being down around the 47 degree of latitude mark. I'd be even happier if it was below the Antarctic Circle.
Pause for a moment and consider that the waves that hit the west coast of Stewart Island have passed under both Africa and Australia. Those cold, dark waves have been blown all the way from South America and, romantically, above them the great albatrosses, with their three-metre wingspans, have been riding the winds and soaring across the wind-tossed seas.
There is something passionate and isolated about an island where only 390 people live. This is a tightly knit community where everyone knows everyone, where the first settlers were Maori who lived off the seafood and the mutton birds. The Maori were followed, in the early nineteenth century, by sealers but these hardy men were not the vicious creatures who inhabited Tasmania and South Australia, enslaved the local Aborigines and tortured and abused the Tasmanian women. These sealers, from places as diverse as America, Scotland and the Cape Verde islands, ended up marrying the local Maori. That happened in the early 1800s which means that most of the local people on Stewart Island, if they were born on the island, can claim roots that reach back to great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents who were sealers and Maori women. And on the Maori side they would have ancestors who have been on the islands for thousands of years.
People come to Stewart Island to experience a lifestyle characterised by simple rural values and a sense of community which barely exists in modern western society. They also come to experience the magic of a genuinely pristine environment. Environmentally concerned Californians checking out a tiny orchid on Ulva island.
Today, along with a small group on environmentally committed Americans, I went on Ulva's Guided Walk. Now Ulva can trace her ancestry back to that Maori-sealer connection. Her roots are Scottish which is why her full name is Ulva Goodwillie - and, yes, it is rather ironic that someone who at birth was named after one of the islands lying near Stewart Island is now providing specialist natural history walks on Ulva Island.Ulva - the guide, not the island.
Ulva - the island, not the guide - is a predator-free destination which is an almost totally pristine temperate rainforest. A walk through this cool, dark forest is an opportunity to become a latent "twitcher" and to marvel at the Stewart Island robins which keep popping out of the forest and demanding that the ground by scraped so they can find little food titbits. The Stewart Island robin which followed us around Ulva Island.
You will be entranced by the weka - a native bird which looks more like a kiwi than the average kiwi does - who wander through the bush; the kaka (New Zealand's native parrots); the tui (a variety of bellbird) and the glorious, darting and weaving fantails. If you are lucky you might see yellow-eyed penguins and kiwis - although don't count on it.
It is also an opportunity to study the flora of Ulva Island and the surrounding granite outcrops. This includes a range of unusual ferns, lichens, mosses and orchids as well as the miro, rimu and totara trees.
Beyond this unique nature experience Stewart Island's primary claim to fame is that it has a range of excellent walking paths. This is a paradise for trampers and, given the name of this blog, all I can say is go to Stewart Island and Trampabout, Trampabout, Trampabout.
Oh, and as a postscript: like any small, isolated settlement there is more than a hint of Northern Exposure and Twin Peaks about this seemingly benign community. But you'll have to find that out for yourself.

Posted
by Bruce ElderMay 3, 2007 8:24 AM

LATEST COMMENTS

Some years ago they put speed zone signs up in Stewart Island for the first time. One of the locals complained about the 50Kmph sign that was being installed - he reckoned it would motivate people to speed up! You are quite right. Yesterday I went on a tour of the island and I reckon most of the journey was done at less than 5km/hr. Bruce

Posted by: jaybee on May 3, 2007 1:14 PM

I recall the massive bits of real fish (Blue Cod) served at what was the Shearwater Hotel - two eggs.. black sauce... a glass of Speights...

Funny really as so few New Zilders ever get down that way... Its their loss, enjoy every moment

FABULOUS PEOPLE AS WELL... Stewart Islanders sure know how to eat. After every meal on the island I swore I would never need to eat again. One seafood chowder at the hotel is enough to feed a decent sized city for a week. Bruce

Posted by: tushugars on May 3, 2007 6:22 PM

23 years ago, my husband and I travelled to Stewart Island by plane. We were on our honeymoon in NZ. On that day, there were no tours operating or anything for tourists, so we spent the day trying to stay warm at some local shops. It was quite miserable and cold. We had to wait for the whole day until we could catch the plane back.
The more memorable part of this, was that on the way back, the plane we were in, ended up having problems with one of its engines. The plane had 2 engines, and one of them just stopped. It was only a small plane, so the pilot was seated just in front of us. I remember him fiddling with the controls and then turning to us red-faced and telling us to put our life jackets on. I looked out the window and all I could see was the cold grey sea. A flight that was supposed to take 20 minutes ended up taking about an hour as we struggled along with 1 engine against fierce winds. You could hear the sound of the engine straining to cope.
Thankfully, we finally made it back, and as we came in to view of the airport, we could see all the emergency vehicles waiting for us with their lights all flashing. We had to land on the grass for precautions.
It was such a relief when we finally stepped out of the plane and on to land.
Hopefully the flights to Stewart Island are better these days.There are still a lot of funny comments about both the ferry and the plane. I can't remember the expression exactly but it goes something like "What would you prefer twenty minutes of sheer terror or an hour of pure fear?" I hope a blogger sees this and remembers the exact comment. But, for my part, the journeys across and back were pleasant but that sea still looked very grey and forbidding. I did feel like saying, on the way back, well now we can ditch if we have to - I could swim the rest of the way." Bruce

Posted by: jw on May 4, 2007 5:46 PM

Maori have been visiting Stewart Island for hundreds not thousands of years. The salmon are farmed in Paterson Inlet, Stewart Island - only ones you could catch would be escapees. Enjoyed your talk and company.Thanks for clearing that up, Wendy. I enjoyed your company, too. Bruce

Posted by: Wendy on May 6, 2007 9:01 AM

I remember spending a little over a week on Stewart Island back in 1976. A memorable week of tramping and eating dried food -supplemented by fish and mutton (a wild sheep caught in the sandhills at Masons Bay). After coming out of the bush and off that diet I remember having a craving for some yoghurt of which I consumed an irresponsible amount. Then boarded the ferry back to Bluff for the most appalling sea trip in my life. I was told by one of the crew the ferry, from Europe, was flatbottomed and to stop it rolling around the owners had poured tons of cement into its hull amid as many lengths of railway track as they could fit. It had no discernible effect that I could tell and the pitch and yaw and even torsional movement of the ferry was nothing short of startling. And alarming. I resorted to curling up on the stern deck hanging on to the flag pole - ready to offload the yoghurt that was making life so miserable. A recollection of some of that trip is at http://pickledeel.blogspot.com/2007/05/jim-and-lizzie.html
I am glad you found Stewart Island. It is a jewel few New Zealanders know about.

Posted by: Bruce on June 16, 2007 8:41 AM

Hi Bruce
Well you seem to be doing just about every thing I hope I will do. Love your blog and can understand the love of this world and it's beauty. At the moment I spend most of my time travelling around west Australia and of course as an avid 68 yr old motorcyclist to me there is only one form of travel (on wheels that is) that makes you appreciate the sights and yes the smell of air blown across the Nullabor or the aroma of the bush after rain. inconvenient at times and often insecure I camp in most areas.. many years ago I spent six years in the merchant navy on the pacific/new zealand/us meat run. Our ship was fast and called the pacific greyhound (Medic) The south island was always magic with the likes of lake Tekapo and the Mount Cook area and i have fond memories of a then young lady ballet teacher from Invercargil. We were In NZ the night the Wahine ferry Sank and helped rescue passengers with our lifeboats a blustery night indeed. To sail up and down the land of the long white cloud is also to experience it's beauty at leisure.
I must get back there and this year looks promising. Last point Christchurch to Invercargill on the Steam Train rattler (1968)was magic if not slow. Love your stories Good Luck Dennis.Thanks Dennis. You should go to Invercargill Museum and see the wonderful motorbike exhibition connected to the remarkable Burt Munro of World's Fastest Indian fame. It is well worth the effort. Bruce